Saturday, July 23, 2016

Political analysts say Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan
Eng owes an explanation as to why Amanah, an equal partner in Pakatan
Harapan, was excluded from the discussion.

PETALING JAYA: The DAP should not have omitted its Pakatan Harapan
ally, Amanah, from discussions on the proposed snap polls in Penang, say
political analysts.
Unimas political scientist Jeniri Amir told FMT that an important
decision such as a snap poll must include all parties of any political
coalition.
He was commenting on Penang Amanah chief Mujahid Yusof Rawa’s
admission yesterday that Amanah had not been invited to discussions on
snap polls in the state.
“It should not have happened, it makes it seem as if the DAP has something to hide from Amanah.”
Jeniri said Mujahid’s revelation would have an impact on Amanah’s grassroots members, who may feel sidelined.

He said any discontent among the grassroots was bad for the
coalition, especially the DAP, which needed all the support it could get
now, given that its secretary- general and Penang Chief Minister Lim
Guan Eng was facing corruption charges.
USM’s Sivamurugan Pandian also said Amanah should have been called to
the discussion table and that DAP had no good reason not to include
Amanah.
“Lim must now clarify why Amanah was not invited for discussions,
before Amanah supporters start asking questions,” he said, adding the
issue could affect Malay areas in which Amanah would want to contest.
He also said PKR, which knew about the discussions on the snap polls, should have informed Amanah about it.
Sivamurugan said Amanah should see this incident as a warning sign as to where it stood in the Pakatan Harapan coalition.
Yesterday, it was reported that Amanah had not been invited to
discussions with Lim on the proposed snap polls in Penang. Mujahid had
said that he only knew about the discussions through media reports.
Earlier this week, Lim held discussions with three PKR leaders,
namely deputy president Azmin Ali, vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar and
party elections director Saifuddin Nasution in Penang, where it was
decided that there would be no snap polls for the time being.